Aljamain Sterling is all for big personalities, as long as it’s genuine.
Sterling saw Raphael Assuncao’s performance against Marlon Moraes at UFC 212. “The Funk Master” isn’t ripping on Assuncao’s win. With that said, Sterling told Flo Combat that he doesn’t understand Assuncao’s calls for a title shot with decision wins:
“What I don’t like is to keep winning decisions like that and celebrating like you finished a guy, won a championship. It’s like dude, come on. If that’s the way you want to win, you can’t be mad if you never fight for a title. That’s probably what’s going to happen to him, he’ll probably never get a chance.”
As far as the ability for lighter weight fighters to draw money goes, Sterling believes personality counts. He believes that fighters have to be genuine if they expect to have a following.
“To some degree, but I think if you have personality it doesn’t really matter. There is somewhat of a ceiling, but if you look at McGregor as a prime example, he has an entire country behind him. I think some people could do that but it can’t be forced. It’s gotta be authentic and you gotta know how to fight.”
